Why Liverpool selling Pepe Reina to Barcelona makes perfect sense

Pepe Reina, Liverpool's number 25 has been the first choice man 'between the sticks' since he joined in 2005 from Villareal and has since then gone to lay claim to being the best keeper the club has ever had.

But as the years the go by, things change and even the Spaniard's most diehard fans would agree that he's has been out of form over the past two seasons.

Guillem Balague (Skysports, AS, Daily Telegraph) reckons a Reina is awaiting the 'call' from Barcelona to take the former La Masia graduate back to his boyhood club after current Barcelona number 1 Victor Valdes made it clear he wants out at the Camp Nou. (1)

Now selling one of the best keepers in the world to a club like Barcelona would seem like a ludacris idea to most fans, it does come with a flip side.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodger knows that Reina is getting to an age where as each season passes his likely re-sale value will continue to diminish and selling him this summer could bring the club around £10m (2) and would also help slash the wage bill and bring it more in line with FSG's new wage structure.

A kitty of £10m to spend on a goal keeper is a fair sum of money and there are a lot of options out there that Liverpool bring in that could the job Reina has been doing.

Liverpool were publicly linked with a move for then Birmingham keeper Jack Butland last summer and have since had names like Michel Vorm, Salvatore Sirigu and Guillermo Ochoa linked to them, all of whom are younger and could easily fill in if Reina were to be sold.